Clause 1 - Aerodrome charges: noise and emissions
Civil Aviation Bill
10:45 am
Karen Buck (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Regent's Park and Kensington North, Labour)
It is precisely those powers, most of which will be locally implemented in local circumstances, that are designed to bear down on levels of airport noise. In many cases, such as in the case of Heathrow, raised by the hon. Member for Putney, that is exactly what has happened. Levels of noise—the noise contour—have come down over the course of time, even allowing for a level of additional movements.
I shall explain to hon. Members a little more about the reason for having a varied response to account for local circumstances. Such a response reflects the diverse nature of airports and their operation. Hon. Members might recall the concern expressed by the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil) on Second Reading about the possible effect of the Bill on airports in the highlands and islands, including the beach at Barra. That is a good example of how the amendment, in placing an absolute duty on airport operators to fix their charges with reference to noise or emissions, would risk placing an undue regulatory burden on some airports, particularly small ones. At Barra, the twin-engined plane uses the beach as its runway, and its take-off and descent are over the sea. Noise and emissions are scarcely an issue in that context, and clause 1 allows the flexibility to account for such cases, just as it will allow airports such as Manchester, which are utterly different in their operation, to reflect in their charging schemes the environmental impact of the aircraft that use it.